Ever Spooled and Won

[Flaptail]

Originally Posted by taJon

it means something went very right. Using very light tackle is much more exciting than those heavy rods that tow fish to the boat. Its all a matter of opinion I guess.

Very light tackle may be exciting but the lengthy fight puts fish under tremendous physiological strain. Enzymes build up in thier blood from over exertion and enter the bloodstream that feeds the muscles. No matter how long you spend reviving the fish and its swims away half heartedly, chances are overwhelming that it will not recover and die within hours or days from the damage to the muscle mass.

I fish ten pound braid for bass from my skiff on the flats and have taken a quite a few large fish over the years with no problems and usually in short order without the aid of motor etc. Anything under ten pound is really irresponsible in terms of catch and release and resource protection. Cheap thrills at the fish's cost for record or notoriety only. If you have no qualms killling for the thrill of it than 2,4,6 and 8 pound tackle is the way to go.

[daceman63]

I have 25#mono in most everything I own. I drag them in and drop them back...unless they get away first....

[Finaddict]

Originally Posted by Flaptail

Very light tackle may be exciting but the lengthy fight puts fish under tremendous physiological strain. Enzymes build up in thier blood from over exertion and enter the bloodstream that feeds the muscles. No matter how long you spend reviving the fish and its swims away half heartedly, chances are overwhelming that it will not recover and die within hours or days from the damage to the muscle mass.

I fish ten pound braid for bass from my skiff on the flats and have taken a quite a few large fish over the years with no problems and usually in short order without the aid of motor etc. Anything under ten pound is really irresponsible in terms of catch and release and resource protection. Cheap thrills at the fish's cost for record or notoriety only. If you have no qualms killling for the thrill of it than 2,4,6 and 8 pound tackle is the way to go.

Agreed ... there are places and situations where light tackle will work okay for landing larger fish, but you also need the ability to land it as quickly as possible ... as the fish will fight themselves to death ... lighter gear in a lighter boat is okay as the drag of the skiff, kayak, canoe can help to tire the fish out ... but you also have to know how and when to put pressure on the fish to get it to the boat quickly ...

... but always favor heavier gear to subdue larger fish quickly, as they are far too valuable to waste on the fun of wearing them down on light gear.

[Mike P]

I think it's been documented that waste products can actually begin to cook the muscle mass of some tunoids during a long fight. Tunoids are basically all red muscle mass.

It's a real boot in the rear to catch an albie on light tackle, but very few of those fish survive a release. Most people won't eat one, so it's a total waste of a good, noble fish. I stopped chasing albies on the Vineyard long before they took them out of the daily prize structure in the Derby.

I can relate one instance that I witnessed--one day, we were fishing at Pogue Light for blues, using fairly heavy tackle. A friend from CT hooked a very small albie. Maybe 4-5 pounds. He was using 20# test on a medium 9' rod. From hook up to release, the fish was probably on the line for less than 5 minutes. He grabbed the tail, unhooked it, gave it a few back and forth passes to get water flowing over its gills, and let go. It swam 10' and sank right to the bottom, and stayed there

[Raven]

this friend and i were out rabbit hunting...

so we see one and are about to shoot

but it froze solid as if to camouflage itself
by becoming perfectly motionless
or so we thought....

we stalked it carefully pointing the
shotguns but never firing a shot

as we got to within 3 feet of it
the rabbit keeled over and died.
we had scared it to death.

i have seen the same thing
happen to fish.

[DZ]

For what its worth I had a close experience with being spooled but it was a very unique set of circumstances that made it happen. I was using a penn 704 with a heavy 10 foot stick. 704s don't hold a lot of line to begin with so I probably had 180 yards or so of 20 lb flourescent blue stren with about another 30 yards of 30 lb pink ande as backing.
I hit a fish on the end of a long cast with a loaded needle so I had a good amount of line out on the cast. The sweep in this particular spot was really pushing with a big sea. I hooked up and the bass took huge amounts of line - at one point I was well into my pink ande with a blood knot between me and the fish. I lucked out and landed the bass but not without some anxious moments - it was the last time I would use backing on a 704 to save some money.

DZ

[niko]

three years ago i was fishing bahai honda st park (marathon in the florida keys) under the bridge. i hooked up on a nice tarpon w/ a 20# spinning outfit and in the blink of an eye i can see the bottom of the spool. the captain was fumbling w/ the glouster ball and anchor line and i get to the bow of this boat and i'm living on stretch. the cap starts the boat and saves the day. while chasing down this tarpon a hammerhead shows up and we have to let the fish run from the shark. we finally loose the shark and bring the fish boatside, capt says 150# maybe more. my first silver king and not my last i hope.

[hunan]

the question was "ever been spooled and won?", right? no, cow tamer. i, myself, have not. by the way, use an arbor knot to tie your line to the spool.

[Raven]

comparing uni to an arbor....

[taJon]

Originally Posted by niko

three years ago i was fishing bahai honda st park (marathon in the florida keys) under the bridge. i hooked up on a nice tarpon w/ a 20# spinning outfit and in the blink of an eye i can see the bottom of the spool. the captain was fumbling w/ the glouster ball and anchor line and i get to the bow of this boat and i'm living on stretch. the cap starts the boat and saves the day. while chasing down this tarpon a hammerhead shows up and we have to let the fish run from the shark. we finally loose the shark and bring the fish boatside, capt says 150# maybe more. my first silver king and not my last i hope.

niko, that sounds awsome. thats still on my to do list.

on a side note. My new little nephew is named Nikko also. he's about a week old now.

[taJon]

Originally Posted by Flaptail

Very light tackle may be exciting but the lengthy fight puts fish under tremendous physiological strain. Enzymes build up in thier blood from over exertion and enter the bloodstream that feeds the muscles. No matter how long you spend reviving the fish and its swims away half heartedly, chances are overwhelming that it will not recover and die within hours or days from the damage to the muscle mass. .

Well, this may be true for bass, I don't know, but not all species. they did some research on Blue sharks and found them to rejuvinate in a short amount of time, even after extended battles. Personally, I use 20 lb test but with reels that don't have large amounts of drag. All my fish are landed in the shortest amount of time possible, many times having to turn the boat around or backing down on it, in order to not get spooled. I'd much rather "cheat" by moving the boat then seeing a nice fish swim away with all that line, pretty much killing it slowly and for nothing.

[Sluggoslinger]

Originally Posted by Flaptail

Very light tackle may be exciting but the lengthy fight puts fish under tremendous physiological strain. Enzymes build up in thier blood from over exertion and enter the bloodstream that feeds the muscles. No matter how long you spend reviving the fish and its swims away half heartedly, chances are overwhelming that it will not recover and die within hours or days from the damage to the muscle mass.

I fish ten pound braid for bass from my skiff on the flats and have taken a quite a few large fish over the years with no problems and usually in short order without the aid of motor etc. Anything under ten pound is really irresponsible in terms of catch and release and resource protection. Cheap thrills at the fish's cost for record or notoriety only. If you have no qualms killling for the thrill of it than 2,4,6 and 8 pound tackle is the way to go.

I always start with super light but will switch up to heavier tackle once I have my dinner in the boat. There is nothing better than a nice long battle with a fish, even if you have to chase it down which in my opinion is even better. Thats why I fish. I always have a selection to choose from and when I am tossing them back i try to get them in asap. For the table I take my time and enjoy, I also don't think you'll loose them if you do it that way.

I agree that fishing 6lb test and whaling fish all day is bad practice.

[niko]

hi tajon, that's a great name - niko was my dog who passed a few years back. he was the best, once in a lifetime. but on a happier note i've been to the keys 4 tiomes and have fantastic memories from all trips. cobia, permit, big bull sharks and giant grouper that bend the beefiest rods. it's a fisherman's paradise, i can't wait to go back. regards, paul

[Roger]

Originally Posted by Flaptail

Very light tackle may be exciting but the lengthy fight puts fish under tremendous physiological strain.

That's the same peeve I have with some of my flyfishing bretheren. Many think that they're putting pounds of pressure on the fish when they are only putting ounces. It's very irritating to see a long rodder fighting a fish with only a bend in the rod tip.

Of course, the worst I've seen was a surfcaster, apparently afraid to get his feet wet, drag a bassling 25ft up the beach, step on it to rip the hook out, then kick it back several times until reaching the water. Last I saw it was floating lifeless.

[Skitterpop]

once on a good reel great drag 14 # ande grey.... used the spinning HMG salmon 2 pc 10 1/2 ft trout rod slow worked inches back against an incoming tidal river

last fish I kept 1st big one caught